Tag Archives: MEM

Windows 365 Cloud PC & Azure Virtual Desktop – Disk Cleanup using Storage Sense – Intune Configuration Policies

23 Jan

With the slightest effort, do you want to perform a disk cleanup operation? In this blogpost, we are setting up the Storage Sense to cleanup Temporary Files & Empty recycle bin on Windows 365 Cloud PC & AVD Multi-session host. Note by no means is Storage Sense a replacement for the detailed cleanmgr.exe tool, which can perform disk cleanup options in a much more granular manner. The below method is a quick method to get you started and later on improvise on your disk cleanup strategy.

What is Storage Sense?

Storage Sense is a feature in Microsoft Windows 11 that helps users free up space on their device by automatically deleting unnecessary files. It can delete temporary files, files in the recycle bin, and files that have not been accessed in a certain period of time. It also helps users to see what is taking up space on their device and gives them the option to delete specific files or move files to an external storage device.

What features are available within Storage Sense?

Storage Sense in Microsoft Windows 11 has the following features:

  • Automatic cleanup: Storage Sense can automatically delete temporary files, files in the recycle bin, and files that have not been accessed in a certain period of time.
  • Storage usage: It helps users to see what is taking up space on their device, and gives them the option to delete specific files or move files to an external storage device.
  • Storage sense can move files to external storage device
  • Storage sense can compress files to save space
  • Storage sense can move files to the cloud
  • Storage sense can delete files that are no longer needed
  • Storage sense can free up space by uninstalling apps
  • Storage sense can show you the storage usage of each app
  • Storage sense can help you to free up storage by cleaning up your downloads folder

What Configurations are available within Intune (MEM Portal)?

There are many ways to setup Storage Sense. However, the method we are going to opt is inline with the modern workplace management solution using Microsoft Intune (Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center)

Setting NameDetails
Allow Disk Health Model UpdatesAllows disk health model updates to predict disk hardware failure.
Allow Storage Sense GlobalStorage Sense can automatically clean some of the user’s files to free up disk space. By default, Storage Sense is automatically turned on when the machine runs into low disk space and is set to run whenever the machine runs into storage pressure. This cadence can be changed in Storage settings or set with the
Allow Storage Sense Temporary Files CleanupWhen Storage Sense runs, it can delete the user’s temporary files that are not in use. If the Storage/AllowStorageSenseGlobal policy is disabled, then this policy does not have any effect. If you enable this policy setting, Storage Sense will delete the user’s temporary files that are not in use.
Config Storage Sense Cloud Content Dehydration ThresholdWhen Storage Sense runs, it can dehydrate cloud-backed content that hasn’t been opened in a certain amount of days. If the Storage/AllowStorageSenseGlobal policy is disabled, then this policy does not have any effect. If you enable this policy setting, you must provide the minimum number of days a cloud-backed file can remain unopened before Storage Sense dehydrates it. Supported values are: 0–365. If you set this value to zero, Storage Sense will not dehydrate any cloud-backed content. The default value is 0, which never dehydrates cloud-backed content
Config Storage Sense Downloads Cleanup ThresholdWhen Storage Sense runs, it can delete files in the user’s Downloads folder if they haven’t been opened for more than a certain number of days. If the Storage/AllowStorageSenseGlobal policy is disabled, then this policy does not have any effect. If you enable this policy setting, you must provide the minimum number of days a file can remain unopened before Storage Sense deletes it from the Downloads folder. Supported values are: 0-365. If you set this value to zero, Storage Sense will not delete files in the user’s Downloads folder
Config Storage Sense Recycle Bin Cleanup ThresholdWhen Storage Sense runs, it can delete files in the user’s Recycle Bin if they have been there for over a certain amount of days. If the Storage/AllowStorageSenseGlobal policy is disabled, then this policy does not have any effect. If you enable this policy setting, you must provide the minimum age threshold (in days) of a file in the Recycle Bin before Storage Sense will delete it. Supported values are: 0–365
Removable Disk Deny Write AccessIf you enable this policy setting, write access is denied to this removable storage class. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, write access is allowed to this removable storage class. Note: To require that users write data to BitLocker-protected storage, enable the policy setting “Deny write access to drives not protected by BitLocker,” which is located in “Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\BitLocker Drive Encryption\Removable Data Drives.”

What policies are we applying?

In this scenario, we only focus on the deletion of temporary files, Recycle Bin, Moving the files to the OneDrive Known Folder (if configured) and checking the disk hardware.

What is the target of this policy?

We aim to kill two birds with one stone, and this policy configuration is not only applicable for Windows 10/11 based Windows 365 Cloud PC, it also works well for Windows 10/11 Multi-session host for Azure Virtual Desktop. This filter is critical to identifying whether the configuration setting will apply to your device type.

Assignments

We are assiging the policy to the Windows 365 AAD device group and add the Azure Virtual Desktop AAD device group here.

Worth a mention, Jannik Reinhard has published a remediation method via cleanmgr.exe and PowerShell – Use Endpoint Analytics to clean up the disk – Modern Device Management (jannikreinhard.com) and is also a great resource if you decide to go into phase 2 strategy of disk clean-up.

I hope you will find this helpful information for performing disk clean-up on Temporary & Recycle for Windows 365 Cloud PC & AVD. Please let me know if I have missed any steps or details, and I will be happy to update the post.

Thanks,
Aresh Sarkari

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Consolidated Scripts – All configurational task via PowerShell for Windows 365 Cloud PC under Microsoft Intune Portal (MEM)

18 Jan

I have written various individual blog posts on PowerShell creation of all configurational task for Windows 365 Cloud PC under Microsoft Endpoint Portal (MEM).

Based on public demand, I want to create a consolidated post for all the scripts and configuration items that can get you started with Windows 365 Cloud PC using PowerShell: (Of course all the below features can also be configured using the UI, however below is the guidance strictly using PowerShell)

PowerShell links to my blog post

Following are the links to my blog post for each and individual task:

PowerShell – Create Windows 365 Cloud PC Provisioning Policy https://askaresh.com/2022/10/11/powershell-create-windows-365-cloud-pc-provisioning-policy/

PowerShell – Assign a AAD group to the Windows 365 Cloud PC Provisioning Policy
https://askaresh.com/2022/10/12/powershell-assign-a-aad-group-to-the-windows-365-cloud-pc-provisioning-policy/

PowerShell – Unassign/Delete the Windows 365 Cloud PC Provisioning Policy
https://askaresh.com/2022/10/14/powershell-unassign-delete-the-windows-365-cloud-pc-provisioning-policy/

PowerShell – Create a custom Windows 11 Enterprise (22H2) + Microsoft 365 Apps golden image for Windows 365 Cloud PC using Marketplace Image
https://askaresh.com/2022/12/01/powershell-create-a-custom-windows-11-enterprise-22h2-microsoft-365-apps-golden-image-for-windows-365-cloud-pc-using-marketplace-image/

PowerShell – Create Azure Network Connection (ANC) for Windows 365 Cloud PC
https://askaresh.com/2023/01/16/powershell-create-azure-network-connection-anc-for-windows-365-cloud-pc/

PowerShell – Create and Assign Windows 365 Cloud PC – User Settings
https://askaresh.com/2022/11/08/powershell-create-and-assign-windows-365-cloud-pc-user-settings/

PowerShell – Report – Get Cloud PC Windows 365 with low utilization
https://askaresh.com/2022/11/24/powershell-report-get-cloud-pc-windows-365-with-low-utilization/

I promise you once you have done the hard work, you can get up and running in a few hours using all the above PowerShell scripts with Windows 365 Cloud PC.

Here is the repo with all the scripts and more – askaresh/avdwin365mem (github.com). A big thanks to Andrew Taylor for collabrating and updating the Provisioning policy script with the SSO details that was release in late Nov 2022.

I hope you will find this helpful information for all things PowerShell w.r.t Windows 365 Cloud PC. I will update the post if I publish or update more information.

Thanks,
Aresh Sarkari

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PowerShell – Create Azure Network Connection (ANC) for Windows 365 Cloud PC

16 Jan

If you want to establish a network connection that allows communication between the Windows 365 Cloud PC and the existing Azure Virtual Network (ANC), then keep following this post. Today, I will demonstrate the Powershell method of creating the Azure Network Connection (ANC). Note that we need information from the Azure Portal to make sure you have all the necessary information handy or/or involve the necessary teams who can provide you with the information on Azure Networking.

Overview

  • Create the ANC first before creating the Win365 – Cloud Provisioning Policy (CPP)
  • If the ANC precreated then during the cloud provisioning of the Cloud PC desktops it will create them on the Azure VNET on your desired subnet
  • Make sure you have a working DNS configured on the VNET which can communicate with your on-premise network using express route or other Azure VNETs
  • Open necessary firewall ports based on your requirements on the NSG or Azure Firewall for the communication to your on-premise network using express route or other Azure VNETs
  • Permissions
    • Intune Administrator in Azure AD
    • Cloud PC Administrator
    • Global Administrator
  • If you decide to alter or change the ANC, you will have to reprovision the Cloud PC, and it’s a destructive activity. Make sure you architect it properly
  • You can delete your ANC however, you will have to update your cloud provisioning policy with the new ANC first, and then you can delete the existing ANC.

Connect to MS Graph API

Step 1 – Install the MS Graph Powershell Module

#Install Microsoft Graph Module
PS C:WINDOWSsystem32> Install-Module Microsoft.Graph.Beta

Step 2 – Connect to scopes and specify which API you want to authenticate. If you are only doing read-only operations, I suggest you connect to “CloudPC.Read.All” in our case, we are creating the ANC, so we need to change the scope to “CloudPC.ReadWrite.All”

#Read-only
PS C:WINDOWSsystem32> Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "CloudPC.Read.All" -NoWelcome
Welcome To Microsoft Graph!

OR

#Read-Write
PS C:WINDOWSsystem32> Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "CloudPC.ReadWrite.All" -NoWelcome
Welcome To Microsoft Graph!


Step 3 – Check the User account by running the following beta command.

#Beta User
PS C:WINDOWSsystem32> Get-MgBetaUser -UserId admin@wdomain.com

Connect to Azure & Grab Details (Variable Region)

We are logging into Azure to grab all the details regarding to Resource Group, Subscription ID/Name, VNET and Subnets

  • Connect to the Azure Portal using the necessary credentials
  • Select the Azure Subscription that holds all the networking information
  • A display name of the Azure Network Connection – ANC – (ANC-W365-Sub01)
  • What is the join type of the ANC of the golden image virtual machine (azureADJoin)
  • Resource Group ID of the existing resource group. You will have to enter the resource group name (W365-AVD-RG01), and it will get us the ID we need.
  • Name of the existing subnet within the vNET (W365Workload-Sub01), and it will get us the ID we need.
  • Name of the existing VNET used for the connection. You will have to enter the VNET name (W365-AVD-VNET01), and it will get us the ID we need.
  • Connection to the MS Graph API and ensure you have the necessary write permissions.
  • We are using the beta API for Cloud PC
# Connect to the Azure Subcription
Connect-AzAccount

# Get existing context
$currentAzContext = Get-AzContext

# Your subscription. This command gets your current subscription
$subscriptionID = $currentAzContext.Subscription.Id

# Your subscription. This command gets your current subscription name
$subscriptionName = $currentAzContext.Subscription.Name

# ANC Display Name
$ancdname = "ANC-W365-Sub01"

# Join Ype for the Azure Network Connection
# Two types Azure AD and Hyrbird "azureADJoin" or "hybridAzureADJoin"
$ancjointype = "azureADJoin"

# Get your Win365 Resouce Group id for RG Name - W365-AVD-RG01
# Put your RG Name
$win365RGID = Get-AzResourceGroup -Name "W365-AVD-RG01" | Select-Object -ExpandProperty ResourceId

# Get your Azure VNET id used for Windows 365 Cloud PC
# Put your VNET Name
$win365VNETID = Get-AzVirtualNetwork -Name "W365-AVD-VNET01" | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Id

# Get your Subnet ID within the Azure VNET for Windows 365 Cloud PC
# Put your VNET Name
$win365VNET = Get-AzVirtualNetwork -Name "W365-AVD-VNET01"

# Enter your Subnet Name
$win365SubID = Get-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name "W365Workload-Sub01" -VirtualNetwork $win365VNET | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Id

# Connec to MS Graph for Cloud PC W365
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "CloudPC.ReadWrite.All"

We shall pass the above variable into the final ANC creation.

Create the Azure Network Connection

We are creating a Azure Network Connection that includes the following:

  • Display Name of the network – $ancdname
  • Azure Subscription ID – $subscriptionID
  • Azure Subscription Name – $subscriptionName
  • Type – There are two types we are selecting Azure AD join – azureADJoin
  • Resource Group ID – The resource group within Azure – $win365RGID
  • Virtual Network ID – The VNET within Azure – $win365VNETID
  • Subnet ID – The subnet for W365 within VNET – $win365SubID
# Create the ANC for Windows 365 with AAD join type
try
{
write-host "Create the ANC for Windows 365 with AAD join type"
$params = @{
    displayName = "$ancdname"
    subscriptionId = "$subscriptionID"
    type = "$ancjointype"
    subscriptionName = "$subscriptionName"
    resourceGroupId = "$win365RGID"
    virtualNetworkId = "$win365VNETID"
    subnetId = "$win365SubID"
}

New-MgBetaDeviceManagementVirtualEndpointOnPremiseConnection -BodyParameter $params -Debug
}
catch
{
    Write-Host $_.Exception.Message -ForegroundColor Yellow
}

Final Script

Here I will paste the entire script block for seamless execution in single run. Following is the link to my Github for this script – avdwin365mem/win365CreateANC at main · askaresh/avdwin365mem (github.com)

# Import module Az and MS Graph
Import-Module Az.Accounts
Install-Module Microsoft.Graph

# Connect to the Azure Subcription
Connect-AzAccount

# Get existing context
$currentAzContext = Get-AzContext

# Your subscription. This command gets your current subscription
$subscriptionID = $currentAzContext.Subscription.Id

# Your subscription. This command gets your current subscription name
$subscriptionName = $currentAzContext.Subscription.Name

# ANC Display Name
$ancdname = "ANC-W365-Sub01"

# Join Ype for the Azure Network Connection
# Two types Azure AD and Hyrbird "azureADJoin" or "hybridAzureADJoin"
$ancjointype = "azureADJoin"

# Get your Win365 Resouce Group id for RG Name - W365-AVD-RG01
# Put your RG Name
$win365RGID = Get-AzResourceGroup -Name "W365-AVD-RG01" | Select-Object -ExpandProperty ResourceId

# Get your Azure VNET id used for Windows 365 Cloud PC
# Put your VNET Name
$win365VNETID = Get-AzVirtualNetwork -Name "W365-AVD-VNET01" | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Id

# Get your Subnet ID within the Azure VNET for Windows 365 Cloud PC
# Put your VNET Name
$win365VNET = Get-AzVirtualNetwork -Name "W365-AVD-VNET01"

# Enter your Subnet Name
$win365SubID = Get-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name "W365Workload-Sub01" -VirtualNetwork $win365VNET | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Id

# Connec to MS Graph for Cloud PC W365
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "CloudPC.ReadWrite.All"

# Create the ANC for Windows 365 with AAD join type
try
{
write-host "Create the ANC for Windows 365 with AAD join type"
$params = @{
    displayName = "$ancdname"
    subscriptionId = "$subscriptionID"
    type = "$ancjointype"
    subscriptionName = "$subscriptionName"
    resourceGroupId = "$win365RGID"
    virtualNetworkId = "$win365VNETID"
    subnetId = "$win365SubID"
}

New-MgBetaDeviceManagementVirtualEndpointOnPremiseConnection -BodyParameter $params -Debug
}
catch
{
    Write-Host $_.Exception.Message -ForegroundColor Yellow
}

I hope you will find this helpful information for creating Azure Network Connection using PowerShell. Please let me know if I have missed any steps or details, and I will be happy to update the post.

Thanks,
Aresh Sarkari

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Restrict Cloud Apps (ServiceNow, GitHub Enterprise, Atlassian Cloud & Office 365) access to Windows 365 Cloud PC/Azure Virtual Desktop

15 Dec

A good security practice would restrict the access of business-critical applications only to trusted devices within the organizations. On personal and untrusted devices, there should deny access to business applications. This strategy helps in Data Loss Prevention and company information compromise, which is vital in today’s landscape.

In our scenario, we will allow Access to Cloud Apps – ServiceNow, GitHub & Atlassian Cloud only on the Windows 365 Cloud PC/Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and all other devices will block access. To achieve this outcome, we shall be using Azure Active Directory (AAD) Conditional Access Policies & further use device filtering on “Cloud PC”

Pre-requsites

  • You have Enterprise Apps integrated with Azure Active Directory (ServiceNow, GitHub Enterprise, Atlassian Cloud & Office 365)
    • Make sure these applications are working with Azure AD credentials and assigned multi-factor authentication
  • Azure AD Group with end-users to whom you want to apply the restrictions
  • Necessary Azure AD P1 or P2 license

Portals on AAD Conditional Access Policy (CAP)

Following are all the portals where you can configure the CAP via different consoles. However, the outcome is going to be the same.

Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin Center (Microsoft Intune)

Azure Portal – Azure Active Directory – Security – Conditional Access

Microsoft Entra admin center

New Policy

Details of all the configurations we are entering within the policy and followed by screenshots:

  • Name of the CAP – Restrict CloudApps access to CPCs
  • Assignments
    • Users or workloads Identities – AAD group, called Win365-Users
    • Cloud apps or action
      • Include – Select – ServiceNow, GitHub Enterprise, Atlassian Cloud & Office 365
      • Exclude – Select – Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop and Microsoft Remote Desktop
    • Conditions – Filter for devices – We are selecting model ‘Cloud PC’
  • Access Controls – Block Access
  • Enable Policy – Report-only

AAD Group used for restrictions

Inlcude Cloud Apps (ServiceNow, GitHub Enterprise, Atlassian Cloud & Office 365)

Exclude Windows 365 and AVD

Conditions (Select Model Cloud PC)

Access Controls (Block Access)

Before rolling out in production at this phase, only use the report-only mode. Once satisfied with your testing, you can select Enable Policy – On. Final click on Create

Insights & Reporting

You can notice my user name shows the blocking policy is applying when I access the CloudApp -Office365 from a personal device.

I hope you will find this helpful information for restricting Cloud Apps access to only Cloud PC. Please let me know if I have missed any steps or details, and I will be happy to update the post.

Thanks,
Aresh Sarkari

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ProTip – App Update – Microsoft Store apps to Microsoft Intune (new)

5 Dec

There is numerous guidance on the brand new feature of deploying Microsoft Store applications via Microsoft Intune. A critical aspect of Application Update may bite back if the GPOs from the legacy enivornment for Microsoft Store are setup.

App Update (MS Store Apps)

By default, all the applications that are deployed from the Microsoft Store are automatically kept up to date with the latest version of the app. There are no extra configurations or guidance required here.

In my scenario, I have deployed a few apps using the new feature that will auto-update itself throughout the application’s lifecycle as when Microsoft Store releases the updates.

The deal breaker for auto App Update

In specific environments previously, you might have configured group policies around Microsoft Store. In particular, we are looking at – Turn off Automatic Download and Install of updates policy. For this feature to work from Intune, this policy should not be enabled.

Please ensure you have this policy “Not Configured” or “Disabled” else you might be wondering why my UWP applications deployed from Microsoft Intune are not getting updated.

I hope you will find this quick valuable tip for the new MS Store Apps via Intune. Please let me know if I have missed any steps or details, and I will be happy to update the post.

Thanks,
Aresh Sarkari

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PowerShell – Create a custom Windows 11 Enterprise (22H2) + Microsoft 365 Apps golden image for Windows 365 Cloud PC using Marketplace Image

1 Dec

In the previous blog post, I demonstrate how to create a Windows 11 Multi-session golden image for AVD. In today’s post, I want to showcase how to create a custom Windows 11 Enterprise 22H2 + Microsoft 365 for Windows 365 Cloud PC. (Note its not multi-session and instead, its Enterprise edition for 1×1 mapping of desktop/user aka Full Clone)

Why will you create a custom Windows 11 Ent Windows 365 Cloud PC Golden Image?

There are situations where you want to create a custom image with all corporate applications pre-installed (VPN or Zero trust agent, EDR/XDR Solutions agents or Anti-virus agent pre-installed). You may argue we can deploy those applications later using Win32 app deployment via Intune. But still, few security teams and corporations would like to have it available from the start.

Pre-requisites

Following are the pre-requisites before you begin

  • PowerShell 5.1 and above
  • Azure Subscription
  • Permissions within the Auzre Subscription for Azure Compute
  • Assumption
    • You have an existing Resource Group (RG)
    • You have an existing Azure Virtual Network (VNET)
    • You have an existing workload subnet within the VNET
    • Identify the VM Size you will be using for the golden image
  • Azure PowerShell Modules

Sign to Azure

To start working with Azure PowerShell, sign in with your Azure credentials.

Connect-AzAccount

Identify the Windows 11 Multi-session (Marketplace Image)

Many versions of Windows 365 Cloud PC – Windows 11/10 Enterprise edition marketplace images from Microsoft. The operating systems is already optimized (Microsoft VDI Optimizations) for Cloud PC, and the only difference is with or without Microsoft 365.

Let’s identify what is available within the marketplace.

Get-AzVMImageSku -Location australiaeast -PublisherName MicrosoftWindowsDesktop -Offer windows-ent-cpc

We are going to use the Windows 11 22H2 Enterprise + Microsoft 365 Apps within this script

Variable Region

Delcare all the variable within this section. Lets take a look at what we are declaring within the script:

  • Existing Resource Group within the Azure Subscription (AZ104-RG)
  • A location where you are deploying this virtual machine (Australia East)
  • Name of the golden image virtual machine (Win365-GI01)
  • NIC Interface name for the virtual machine (Win365-GI01-nic)
  • RG of the VNET (In my case they are same AZ104-RG, they can be seperate too and hence a independent variable)
  • Name of the existing subnet within the vNET (AZ104-VDI-Workload-L1)
  • Name of the existing VNET (AZ104-RG-vnet)
  • Mapping of the exisitng VNET
  • Mapping of the existing subnet
  • T-shirt size of the golden image we are deploying (Standard_D2s_v3)
  • Gallery details of the image
    • Published – MicrosoftWindowsDesktop
    • Offer – windows-ent-cpc
    • SKU – win11-22h2-ent-cpc-m365
    • version – Offcourse latest
  • Get credentials – A local admin account is created on the golden image (A input box to capture the uisername and password of your choice)
# Existing Resource Group to deploy the VM
$rgName = "AZ104-RG"

# Geo Location to deploy the VM
$location = "Australia East"

# Image template name
$vmName = "Win365-GI01"

# Networking Interfance Name for the VM
$nicName = "$vmName-nic"

# Resource Group for VNET
$vnetrgName = "AZ104-RG"

# Existing Subnet Name
$Existsubnetname = "AZ104-VDI-Workload-L1"

# Existing VNET Name
$Existvnetname = "AZ104-RG-vnet"

# Existing VNET where we are deploying this Virtual Machine
$vnet = Get-AzVirtualNetwork -Name $Existvnetname -ResourceGroupName $vnetrgName

# Existing Subnet within the VNET for the this virtual machine
$subnet = Get-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name $Existsubnetname -VirtualNetwork $vnet

# T-shirt size of the VM
$vmSize = "Standard_D2s_v3"

# Gallery Publisher of the Image - Microsoft
$publisher = "MicrosoftWindowsDesktop"

# Version of Windows 10/11
$offer = "windows-ent-cpc"

# The SKY ending with avd are the multi-session
$sku = "win11-22h2-ent-cpc-m365"

# Choosing the latest version
$version = "latest"

# Setting up the Local Admin on the VM
$cred = Get-Credential `
   -Message "Enter a username and password for the virtual machine."

Execution block

Execution code block within this section. Lets take a look at what we are we executing within the script:

  • First its creating the network interface for the virtual machine (Win365-GI01)
  • Next, under the variable $VM all virtual machine configurations
    • Tshirt size of the virtual machine
    • Credentials for the local admin (username/password)
    • The network interface assignment along with the delete option (Note delete option is essential or/else during deletion of VM it will not delete the network interface)
    • The gallery image, sku, offer from the Microsoft Market Place gallery
    • The OS disk assignment along with the delete option (Note delete option is essential or/else during deletion of VM it will not delete the disk)
    • The configuration around “Trusted Platform” and enabling of TPM and Secure Boot
    • The final command to create the virtual machine with all the above configurations
# Create New network interface for the virtual machine
$NIC = New-AzNetworkInterface -Name $nicName -ResourceGroupName $vnetrgName -Location $location -Subnet $subnet

# Creation of the new virtual machine with delete option for Disk/NIC together
$vm = New-AzVMConfig -VMName $vmName -VMSize $vmSize 

$vm = Set-AzVMOperatingSystem `
   -VM $vm -Windows `
   -ComputerName $vmName `
   -Credential $cred `
   -ProvisionVMAgent `
   -EnableAutoUpdate 

# Delete option for NIC
$vm = Add-AzVMNetworkInterface -VM $vm `
   -Id $NIC.Id `
   -DeleteOption "Delete"

$vm = Set-AzVMSourceImage -VM $vm `
   -PublisherName $publisher `
   -Offer $offer `
   -Skus $sku `
   -Version $version 

# Delete option for Disk
$vm = Set-AzVMOSDisk -VM $vm `
   -StorageAccountType "StandardSSD_LRS" `
   -CreateOption "FromImage" `
   -DeleteOption "Delete"

# The sauce around enabling the Trusted Platform
$vm = Set-AzVmSecurityProfile -VM $vm `
   -SecurityType "TrustedLaunch" 

# The sauce around enabling TPM and Secure Boot
$vm = Set-AzVmUefi -VM $vm `
   -EnableVtpm $true `
   -EnableSecureBoot $true 

New-AzVM -ResourceGroupName $rgName -Location $location -VM $vm

Final Script

Here I will paste the entire script block for seamless execution in single run. Following is the link to my Github for this script – avdwin365mem/createnewvmwin365 at main · askaresh/avdwin365mem (github.com)

# Step 1: Import module
#Import-Module Az.Accounts

# Connect to the Azure Subcription
#Connect-AzAccount

# Get existing context
$currentAzContext = Get-AzContext

# Your subscription. This command gets your current subscription
$subscriptionID=$currentAzContext.Subscription.Id

# Command to get the Multi-session Image in Gallery
# Details from this command will help in filling out variables below on Gallery Image
# Get-AzVMImageSku -Location australiaeast -PublisherName MicrosoftWindowsDesktop -Offer windows-ent-cpc

# Existing Resource Group to deploy the VM
$rgName = "AZ104-RG"

# Geo Location to deploy the VM
$location = "Australia East"

# Image template name
$vmName = "Win365-GI01"

# Networking Interfance Name for the VM
$nicName = "$vmName-nic"

# Resource Group for VNET
$vnetrgName = "AZ104-RG"

# Existing Subnet Name
$Existsubnetname = "AZ104-VDI-Workload-L1"

# Existing VNET Name
$Existvnetname = "AZ104-RG-vnet"

# Existing VNET where we are deploying this Virtual Machine
$vnet = Get-AzVirtualNetwork -Name $Existvnetname -ResourceGroupName $vnetrgName

# Existing Subnet within the VNET for the this virtual machine
$subnet = Get-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name $Existsubnetname -VirtualNetwork $vnet

# T-shirt size of the VM
$vmSize = "Standard_D2s_v3"

# Gallery Publisher of the Image - Microsoft
$publisher = "MicrosoftWindowsDesktop"

# Version of Windows 10/11
$offer = "windows-ent-cpc"

# The SKY ending with avd are the multi-session
$sku = "win11-22h2-ent-cpc-m365"

# Choosing the latest version
$version = "latest"

# Setting up the Local Admin on the VM
$cred = Get-Credential `
   -Message "Enter a username and password for the virtual machine."

# Create New network interface for the virtual machine
$NIC = New-AzNetworkInterface -Name $nicName -ResourceGroupName $vnetrgName -Location $location -Subnet $subnet

# Creation of the new virtual machine with delete option for Disk/NIC together
$vm = New-AzVMConfig -VMName $vmName -VMSize $vmSize 

$vm = Set-AzVMOperatingSystem `
   -VM $vm -Windows `
   -ComputerName $vmName `
   -Credential $cred `
   -ProvisionVMAgent `
   -EnableAutoUpdate 

# Delete option for NIC
$vm = Add-AzVMNetworkInterface -VM $vm `
   -Id $NIC.Id `
   -DeleteOption "Delete"

$vm = Set-AzVMSourceImage -VM $vm `
   -PublisherName $publisher `
   -Offer $offer `
   -Skus $sku `
   -Version $version 

# Delete option for Disk
$vm = Set-AzVMOSDisk -VM $vm `
   -StorageAccountType "StandardSSD_LRS" `
   -CreateOption "FromImage" `
   -DeleteOption "Delete"

# The sauce around enabling the Trusted Platform
$vm = Set-AzVmSecurityProfile -VM $vm `
   -SecurityType "TrustedLaunch" 

# The sauce around enabling TPM and Secure Boot
$vm = Set-AzVmUefi -VM $vm `
   -EnableVtpm $true `
   -EnableSecureBoot $true 

New-AzVM -ResourceGroupName $rgName -Location $location -VM $vm

Note – It will give you a pop-up box for entering the username and password for the local account, and in under 10 mins you will see your virtual machine within the Azure portal

Next Steps on Golden Image

Now that the virtual machine is ready following are the next steps involved:

  • Using Azure Bastion console and install the required applications
    • Zero Trust Agent
    • EDR/XDR Agent
    • Antivirus Software Agent
    • Line of Business Apps
  • Generalize and sysprep and shutdown the image
  • Capture the image to the Azure Compute Galleries
  • Add the image within Microsoft Intune

I hope you will find this helpful information for deploying a golden image within Azure – Virtual Machine to deploy the custom Image for Windows 365 Cloud PC. Please let me know if I have missed any steps or details, and I will be happy to update the post.

Thanks,
Aresh Sarkari

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PowerShell – Report – Get Cloud PC Windows 365 with low utilization

24 Nov

In my previous post, I had demonstrated the new reports (in-preview) Windows 365 Cloud PC – New Reports – Connection quality & Low Utilization. Today, I will showcase how to generate the report of “Cloud PCs with low utilization” using PowerShell and MS Graph API with beta modules on Windows 365 Cloud PC.

Connect to MS Graph API

Step 1 – Install the MS Graph Powershell Module

#Install Microsoft Graph Module
PS C:WINDOWSsystem32> Install-Module Microsoft.Graph.Beta

Step 2 – Connect to scopes and specify which API you want to authenticate. If you are only doing read-only operations, I suggest you connect to “CloudPC.Read.All” in our case, we are creating the policy, so we need to change the scope to “CloudPC.ReadWrite.All”

#Read-only
PS C:WINDOWSsystem32> Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "CloudPC.Read.All"
Welcome To Microsoft Graph!

OR

#Read-Write
PS C:WINDOWSsystem32> Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "CloudPC.ReadWrite.All"
Welcome To Microsoft Graph!

Step 3 – Check the User account by running the following beta command.

#Beta User
PS C:WINDOWSsystem32> Get-MgBetaUser -UserId admin@wdomain.com

Generate the report – Low Utilization

We are generating a report that will showcase the low utilization of the Cloud PC within your environment. This can help you decide to decommission the Cloud PC or send a notification to the end-user etc. – https://github.com/askaresh/avdwin365mem/blob/main/report-lowutilz-cloudpc

  • Building the bodyparameters:
    • Top – How many records you want to return (In the current example its 25)
    • Skip – Number of records to skip ((In the current example its 0)
  • Filter
    • In my example, as its a demo tenant and to generate the report I am using the following – TotalUsageInHour le 40 (Usage less than 40 hours)
  • It will provide the details of the Cloud PC Name, UPN, Total time connected and Days since last sign-in.
$params = @{
	Top = 25
	Skip = 0
	Filter = "(TotalUsageInHour le 40)"
	Select = @(
		"CloudPcId"
		"ManagedDeviceName"
		"UserPrincipalName"
		"TotalUsageInHour"
		"DaysSinceLastSignIn"
	)
}

Get-MgBetaDeviceManagementVirtualEndpointReportTotalAggregatedRemoteConnectionReport -BodyParameter $params

Note – You will have to enter the OutFile path where you want to save the report in my example C:\Temp\abc.csv

The actual report in the Intune Portal looks like the following – The same result is now available within the Value section of the CSV (Note – The formatting of the output is terrible, some excel work will be required to format the data properly)

I hope you will find this helpful information for generating low utilization report for Cloud PC using PowerShell. Please let me know if I have missed any steps or details, and I will be happy to update the post.

Thanks,
Aresh Sarkari

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Windows 365 Cloud PC – Microsoft Intune – Disable Chat Icon + PowerShell Uninstall MS Teams

23 Nov

When you deploy your Windows 365 Cloud PC, you can use a Microsoft Gallery Image or a Custom Image from Azure. The Microsoft Gallery image is a good starting point for most deployments, as it’s already optimized for Cloud PC. In my scenario, I have leveraged the Windows 11 Enterprise + OS Optimizations – 22H2 gallery image.

Note – These steps are only applicable in situations where-in you are not using Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams is an excellent collaboration tool if the organization leverages it.

Post the Cloud PC Provisioning, the end-users see the Chat Icon for MS Team and the Microsoft Teams applications are installed within the Apps & Features. In this scenario, I am not using Microsoft Teams hence I have decided to Disable the Icon & Uninstall MS Team from the Cloud PC fleet.

Disable Chat Icon – Intune

Let’s see how to disable the Chat Icon gracefully for all end-users using Microsoft Intune

  • Login to the Microsoft Intune Portal – https://endpoint.microsoft.com/
  • Go to Devices and then scroll down to Configuration Profiles
  • Click on Create New Profile
    • Select Platform – Windows 10 and later
    • Profile type – Settings Catalog
    • Enter a Name – Disable Win11ChatIcon
    • Settings picker type – configure chat icon
    • Category select – Experience
    • Results select – Configure Chat Icon
  • Set the value as disable
  • Assign the policy to the AAD group – In my case, I have assigned to the “Win365-DeviceGroup”

Set the Configure Chat Icon – Disabled

After the sync-up, I noticed the Chat Icon from the taskbar disappeared on all Windows 365 Cloud PC devices.

Un-install MS Team – Scripts Intune

Within the Microsoft gallery image, you will notice the Microsoft Team is installed by default, and we want to uninstall the software using Powershell Scripts. A quick check within Apps & Features shows that Microsoft Teams is already installed.

  • Login to the Microsoft Intune Portal – https://endpoint.microsoft.com/
  • Go to Devices and then scroll down to Scripts
  • Click on Add
    • Select Platform – Windows 10 and later
    • Enter a Name – Uninstall-MSTeams
    • Upload the script – Snippet below
    • No to the rest of the settings
  • Assign to the policy to the AAD group – In my case I have assigned to the “Win365-DeviceGroup”
# Remove Teams Application

try {
    $fetchteamsapp = @(Get-AppxPackage -name '*teams' -ErrorAction stop)
}
catch {
    $ErrorMessage = $_.Exception.message
    write-error ('Error getting the teams app ' + $ErrorMessage)
    Exit
}
if ($fetchteamsapp -ne $null) {
    $uninstallteamsapp = @(remove-appxpackage -package "MicrosoftTeams_22287.702.1670.9453_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe" -ErrorAction stop)
}
else { 
    write-host 'Successfully un-install the MS Teams.'
    exit
}

Note – Replace your MS Team version with whatever you have within your environment

I hope you will find this helpful information for disabling icon and uninstalling Microsoft teams using Intune + Powershell scripts. Please let me know if I have missed any steps or details, and I will be happy to update the post.

Thanks,
Aresh Sarkari

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Windows 365 Cloud PC – Short and Long term Restore Point Options

9 Nov

I always knew about the short term restore options of a Windows 365 Cloud PC. However, I never paid attention to the long term restore point though it was in front of my eyes all the time. Let’s take a deeper look at the restore options.

User Settings

The following restore options within my User Setting policy are configured. (You can follow this blog post to – PowerShell – Create and Assign Windows 365 Cloud PC – User Settings )

Short Term Restore

The above policy is configured with restore points every 4 hours. The Windows 365 Cloud PC will have 10 restore points saved at intervals of every 4 hours defined in the user setting. For example, if you choose 4 hour intervals, a Cloud PC will have 10 restore points spread out every four hours over the last 40 hours. (The box highlighted in green is the 40 hours period of the short term restore points.)

Long Term Restore

Now comes the eye-opener that has been in the console. However, I never paid attention to its dates and time. In addition to these configurable short-term restore points, four long-term restore points aren’t configurable. These long-term restore points are saved every seven days. The box highlighted in red is the 7 days of the long term restore points. (Pay attention to the dates precisely 7 days apart)

Note in both scenarios of short- and long-term restore points, it automatically removes the old and adds the new restore points. Ensure the end-user/admin teams understand the impact of a long term restore point, as it can have an unpredictable outcome of application/configurations missing or the desktop becoming unusable. The best practice here is to restore to the earliest possible point, whether short- or long-term.

I hope you will find this helpful information for understanding the restore points in Cloud PC. Please let me know if I have missed any steps or details, and I will be happy to update the post.

Thanks,
Aresh Sarkari

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